Sidalcea covillei |
Sidalcea setosa |
|
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Owens Valley checkerbloom, Owens Valley sidalcea |
bristly checkerbloom, bristly-fruit checkerbloom, Edgewood checkerbloom |
|
Habit | Herbs, perennial, 0.2–0.6 m, often glaucous, with fleshy, simple to clustered roots, without caudex or rhizomes. | Herbs, perennial, 0.5–1(–1.5) m, not glaucous, with thick, fibrous taproot or caudex and short, thick rootstocks that are not rhizomelike. |
Stems | several, clustered, erect, solid, often glaucous proximally, base sparsely, finely to coarsely stellate-hairy or hispid, hairs smaller distally. |
1–3, clustered, erect, solid, proximally hairy, hairs a mix of soft, appressed, stellate and/or longer, bristlelike, 2 mm, distally sparsely puberulent. |
Leaves | 2–5 per stem, mostly basal; stipules linear-lanceolate, 3–6 × 1 mm; petiole (4–)5–10 cm, reduced on cauline leaves, proximal 1–4 times as long as blade, distal 1/2 times to as long as blade; blade fleshy, glaucous, rather densely stellate-hairy, proximalmost usually shallowly to deeply, ternately, palmately 5–7-lobed, 1.5–3 × 1.5–4 cm, lobes obovate, margins crenate-dentate, distal deeply 3–7-lobed, lobes linear, distalmost 2–4 cm wide. |
basal and cauline; stipules deciduous, lanceolate, 4–7(–15) × 1–2 mm; petioles of proximal leaves 10–20 cm, 3–4 times as long as blades, reduced distally to 1/2 times blade length; blades: proximal orbiculate, shallowly or deeply 5–9-lobed, 5–10 × 5–10 cm, base wide-cordate to ± truncate, lobe margins coarsely crenate and dentate, apex 2–5-toothed, mid stem largest, 5–7(–9)-lobed, usually incised ± to base, 10–25 × 10–25 cm, lobe margins coarsely dentate to laciniate or entire, surfaces scabrid-hairy, hairs simple or forked, stiff; distalmost 5–7-lobed, lobes linear, subentire, margins ciliate, surfaces glabrescent or with few hairs on abaxial veins. |
Inflorescences | erect, open, calyces not conspicuously overlapping except sometimes in bud, branched or unbranched, nearly scapose, often 20+-flowered, slender, elongate, 1-sided or not, 6–30 cm; bracts inconspicuous, linear, 2-fid, 2–4 mm, shorter than calyx and pedicels. |
erect, spiciform or subcapitate, dense, calyces usually conspicuously overlapping in flower and sometimes in fruit, branched, ca. 10-flowered, flowers/calyces overlapping, not 1-sided, 3–7(–10) cm, elongated in fruit; bracts lanceolate-elliptic, undivided, 3–8 mm, longer than pedicels, often longer than young flower buds, ± equaling calyx. |
Pedicels | 2–8(–10) mm; involucellar bractlets absent. |
1–2 mm, to 4 mm in fruit; involucellar bractlets absent. |
Flowers | bisexual; calyx 5–8 mm, uniformly, densely stellate-puberulent or few with longer rays; petals pale pink-lavender, veins paler, 10–15 mm; staminal column 4–5 mm, hairy; anthers white; stigmas 5 or 6. |
bisexual or unisexual and pistillate, plants gynodioecious; calyx 5–9 mm, to 10 mm in fruit, margins ciliate, minutely stellate-puberulent and bristly with longer, coarser, usually pustulate hairs usually on pads, bristle hairs 1–2 mm; petals pink to pinkish lavender, not notably whitish- or pale-veined, (5–)8–30 mm, pistillate 5–15 mm, bisexual to 20–30 mm; staminal column 5–7 mm, hairy; anthers white to pale pink; stigmas (6 or)7 or 8. |
Seeds | 1 mm. |
1.8 mm. |
Schizocarps | 5 mm diam.; mericarps 5 or 6, 2.5 mm, sparsely glandular-puberulent, roughened, back reticulate-veined, sides strongly so, not pitted, mucro 0.1–0.3 mm. |
6–7 mm diam.; mericarps (6 or)7 or 8, 2.5 mm, sparsely glandular-puberulent, margins usually sharp-edged but not winged, sides coarsely reticulate-veined to nearly smooth, back lightly reticulate-veined, usually prominently roughened at least on margins and/or back, pitted, mucro 0.5 mm. |
2n | = 20. |
= 40, 60. |
Sidalcea covillei |
Sidalcea setosa |
|
Phenology | Flowering (Apr–)May–Jun. | Flowering Jun–Jul. |
Habitat | Alkaline flats, springs, meadows | Meadows, rocky hillsides, roadsides |
Elevation | 1100–1400 m (3600–4600 ft) | 300–2300 m (1000–7500 ft) |
Distribution |
CA |
CA; OR |
Discussion | Sidalcea covillei is one of two species of Sidalcea (along with S. neomexicana) with fleshy roots and adapted to alkaline conditions on flats. Its range (Owens Valley in Inyo County) and specialized habitat have made it vulnerable to any lowering of the water table and to grazing; it is listed as endangered in California. Most individuals of it were destroyed by construction of the Haiwee Reservoir. Once thought to have been extirpated, it was subsequently rediscovered. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Sidalcea setosa is distinguished by its branched inflorescence with each branch tipped by a dense spike, and by its conspicuously accrescent, membranous, bristly calyx. It intergrades with, and has been confused with, S. oregana subspp. oregana and spicata, and some authors have considered it to be doubtfully distinct from them. It is similar also to S. oregana subsp. eximia, and some plants show similarities to S. asprella. When mature, the fruit separates as a whole from the plant and can adhere to clothing or fur, an apparent adaptation for dispersal. It appears to be best developed and most frequent near Grants Pass, in the Klamath Range of Oregon. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Source | FNA vol. 6, p. 329. | FNA vol. 6, p. 353. |
Parent taxa | ||
Sibling taxa | ||
Synonyms | S. neomexicana var. covillei | S. setosa subsp. querceta |
Name authority | Greene: Cybele Columb. 1: 35. (1914) | C. L. Hitchcock: Perenn. Sp. Sidalcea, 53. (1957) |
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